- accepted market practice
means a specific market practice that is accepted by a competent authority in accordance with Article 13;
- algorithmic trading
means algorithmic trading as defined in point (39) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- associated instruments
means the following financial instruments, including those which are not admitted to trading or traded on a trading venue, or for which a request for admission to trading on a trading venue has not been made:
- benchmark
means any rate, index or figure, made available to the public or published that is periodically or regularly determined by the application of a formula to, or on the basis of the value of one or more underlying assets or prices, including estimated prices, actual or estimated interest rates or other values, or surveys, and by reference to which the amount payable under a financial instrument or the value of a financial instrument is determined;
- buy-back programme
means trading in own shares in accordance with Articles 21 to 27 of Directive 2012/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- commodity
means a commodity as defined in point (1) of Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1287/2006;
- commodity derivatives
means commodity derivatives as defined in point (30) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- competent authority
means an authority designated in accordance with Article 22, unless otherwise specified in this Regulation;
- credit institution
means a credit institution as defined in point (1) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- data traffic records
means records of traffic data as defined in point (b) of the second paragraph of Article 2 of Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and the Council;
- disclosing market participant
means a person who falls into any of the categories set out in points (a) to (d) of Article 11(1) or of Article 11(2), and discloses information in the course of a market sounding;
- emission allowance
means emission allowance as described in point (11) of Section C of Annex I to Directive 2014/65/EU;
- emission allowance market participant
means any person who enters into transactions, including the placing of orders to trade, in emission allowances, auctioned products based thereon, or derivatives thereof and who does not benefit from an exemption pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 17(2);
- financial institution
means a financial institution as defined in point (26) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;
- financial instrument
means a financial instrument as defined in point (15) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- high-frequency trading
means high-frequency algorithmic trading technique as defined in point (40) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- information recommending or suggesting an investment strategy
means information:
- investment firm
means an investment firm as defined in point (1) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- investment recommendations
means information recommending or suggesting an investment strategy, explicitly or implicitly, concerning one or several financial instruments or the issuers, including any opinion as to the present or future value or price of such instruments, intended for distribution channels or for the public;
- issuer
means a legal entity governed by private or public law, which issues or proposes to issue financial instruments, the issuer being, in case of depository receipts representing financial instruments, the issuer of the financial instrument represented;
- market maker
means a market maker as defined in point (7) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- market operator
means a market operator as defined in point (18) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- MTF
means a multilateral system as defined in point (22) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- national regulatory authority
means national regulatory authority as defined in point (10) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011;
- OTF
means a system or facility in the Union as defined in point (23) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- person
means a natural or legal person;
- person closely associated
means:
- person discharging managerial responsibilities
means a person within an issuer, an emission allowance market participant or another entity referred to in Article 19(10), who is:
- person professionally arranging or executing transactions
means a person professionally engaged in the reception and transmission of orders for, or in the execution of transactions in, financial instruments;
- regulated market
means a regulated market as defined in point (21) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- securities
means:
- significant distribution
means an initial or secondary offer of securities that is distinct from ordinary trading both in terms of the amount in value of the securities to be offered and the selling method to be employed;
- SME
means a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise within the meaning of Article 2 of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC.
- spot commodity contract
means a contract for the supply of a commodity traded on a spot market which is promptly delivered when the transaction is settled, and a contract for the supply of a commodity that is not a financial instrument, including a physically settled forward contract;
- spot market
means a commodity market in which commodities are sold for cash and promptly delivered when the transaction is settled, and other non-financial markets, such as forward markets for commodities;
- stabilisation
means a purchase or offer to purchase securities, or a transaction in associated instruments equivalent thereto, which is undertaken by a credit institution or an investment firm in the context of a significant distribution of such securities exclusively for supporting the market price of those securities for a predetermined period of time, due to a selling pressure in such securities.
- stake-building
means an acquisition of securities in a company which does not trigger a legal or regulatory obligation to make an announcement of a takeover bid in relation to that company;
- systematic internaliser
means a systematic internaliser as defined in Article 4(1), point (20), of Directive 2014/65/EU.
- trading venue
means a trading venue as defined in point (24) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- wholesale energy product
means wholesale energy product as defined in point (4) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011;